A woman was pulled over by a car with flashing lights early Thursday morning in a neighborhood near Sierra Middle School in Las Cruces and was severely beaten and possibly raped, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported today on its Web site.

It was the third incident in recent days where a woman was accosted by two men in a car and assaulted and at least two of the incidents involved being pulled over by a car with flashing lights, the paper reported.

A woman was molested around 1 a.m. Feb. 25 when she was pulled over near the Taco Bell on El Paseo Road by two men in a car with flashing lights -- an m.o. similar to Thursday's incident.

Then around 11:30 p.m. on March 2, a woman was raped at gunpoint by men in a pickup truck that had set up what appeared to be a roadblock on Stern Road, a frontage road along Interstate 10, south of Las Cruces.

Police still don't know whether the incidents are related, but are urging motorists to take precautions -- a checklist of things to do from the Las Cruces Police Department, as well as a way to identify legitimate law officers and their vehicles, is posted on the Sun-News Web site.

State Police, who are working with local authorities on the investigation, have posted a description of the vehicle with flashing lights (a teal green Chevrolet Camaro) as well as physical descriptions of the two suspects -- also on the Web site.

In the Thursday incident, the woman was driving home after midnight when she was pulled over, when one of the men got in her car on the passenger side while the second flashed a light in her eyes from the driver's side, the paper reported.

The woman punched the man inside her vehicle but the two overpowered her, beating her into unconsciousness, the victim's brother told police.

The woman doesn't recall whether she was sexually assaulted, but doctors say it's likely she was, according to the Sun-News report.

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